Breaking the fourth wall
by bhut
Summary: Post S5: one day Connor woke up and found himself in a new world entirely. What will he do there? Will he get back? Will he want to? Not for Conby lovers.
1. Breaking the fourth wall

**Breaking the fourth wall: order and chaos**

_Disclaimer: None of the characters are mine, but belong to their respective owners._

The Anomaly Research Center stood in the middle of London, looking dark, almost mountain-like beneath a sky covered in storm clouds. Street lights from the nearby buildings shone on it, reflected off of it, giving the building a bluish tinge, but no light came from the Center itself – and why or how should it, for the latest _Primeval_ season had come and gone, and the Center had submerged into another hiatus hibernation – its sixth one up to date.

Inside the Center the situation was the same as it was outside – lifeless. The settings and characters of _Primeval_ just stood there like so many props and mannequins, oblivious to the dust and desolation that surrounded them as it always have for the previous five hiatuses. Everything was as always, everything was perfectly orderly, until, far away in the west, where the Atlantic Ocean melded into the sky, there was a distant, tiny clap of thunder...

...and back in the Center Connor Temple awoke with a sneeze.

/

"Wha-? What is going on? Matt, Becker? Abby, do you hear me?"

Slowly, and feeling seriously confused, Connor straightened up (he fell full of pins and needles) and looked around. He was standing in the ARC, but this version of the ARC looked almost dead, with just the whirl of the air conditioning system and the on-again off-again blinking of the lights keeping the Center from sinking into utter gloom and silence – but that was not the worst. The worst was the people. They just stood or sat, frozen in their tracks, their facial expressions slack and vague, and their eyes almost as lifeless as buttons.

"Jess?" Connor asked his nearest teammate, "Jess, can you hear me?" But the normally perky, talkative and social team coordinator just sat there, looking as blank as the display screens she was looking at.

"Jess?" Connor repeated his question. "Can you hear me? ...Aren't you stiff from all that sitting around? Aren't you getting blind from all that staring at the blank screen too?" (After all, he was Connor and couldn't help himself from cracking jokes when he felt like it.)

Jess didn't answer, but as Connor leaned over her to look at the blank screen, a strange feeling came over him, a feeling that suggested that all he needed was to stand there like this for a while, and all of his discomfort would disappear and he would no longer feel like pins and needles, and-

With a jerk Connor scrambled away from Jess and her stations, almost falling over (he had problems with physical coordination from time to time too), as a realization hit: he was feeling pins and needles all over because he had been sitting or standing in one pose for too long, just as Jess currently was – and that was something Connor _abhorred_.

It wasn't particularly common knowledge (though it wasn't a secret either), but Connor Temple didn't like to be still and doing nothing – he had to be doing something, even if it was just playing video games: the actual idea that he could be stuck in nothingness, doing nothing and waiting for nothing in particular simply terrified him – and so did the idea that there was something in here that could _make_ him do exactly that...

"I must get out of here," Connor muttered to himself as he stood up and checked his pockets. He still had his wallet and the keys to theirs – well, mostly Jess's – flat. "I need to get out and figure out what to do next," he muttered to himself (and he was beginning to have the glimmers of an idea just what to do next precisely, too), before turning around and walking towards the exit from the ARC.

/

Now, technically leaving the ARC was very easy, Connor himself had done it many times in the past, but this time it was different. Physically, it was almost the same, but the silence that had been only disturbing as soon as Connor had come to his senses, became increasingly oppressive as the young man approached the exit, almost tangible. Several times Connor had to suppress the urge to run in the other direction, deeper into the ARC, to hide from whatever or whoever was sending him all of that tacit disapproval, until he, she, it or they left – but Connor didn't. Sure, he was a mess when he grasped the door's handle, and as he pulled the door open and it wouldn't budge sweat ran down his back as he was suddenly hit with a great deal of fear, but then he _pushed_ the door open and it complied, and a great gust of wind and fresh air hit him – and Connor knew that he did the right thing.

"Right then," he muttered encouragingly to himself and stepped outside. Immediately, a gust of wind snapped the door shut, almost hitting Connor in the process, if the young man hadn't jumped away in time.

"Right then," Connor muttered again as he looked at the ARC from outside – it didn't look any less forbidding from that point of view – "go to Jess's and hack into the Center's computers from her place. Shouldn't be too hard." Muttering thusly to himself he turned his back to the ARC and began to walk to Jess's place.

He never made it.

/

Connor may've been a maverick, but he was also very, very intelligent: he wasn't one of the co-inventors of the first 'artificial' time anomaly for nothing: as he walked through the streets, he did two things: he noticed, and he made plans.

Firstly, he noticed that the further he got from the Center, the livelier the streets became. It was as if there was an aversion field of some sort centered upon the Center, no pun intended. It was quite efficient, and that worried Connor a lot.

On the other side, though, there wasn't any sign of any impending time anomalies, and that was good. Certainly, the fact that Connor forgot to take his time anomaly detection device couldn't be discounted either, but somehow Connor got a feeling that time anomalies weren't a big factor in life, either. There was just something in the behaviour of other people, so casual and carefree, that implied that to Connor, it just did.

That alone was thought-worthy, but Connor was busy with other concerns: the more he thought about it, the less confident he was about going to Jess's flat: somehow or other, he just couldn't remember a fixed address of Jess's flat either. That was ridiculous, after all, he and Abby have lived with Jess for quite a while now, so-

Thinking of Abby hurt: Connor realized that he wasn't a very good boyfriend, having rescued himself and not his girlfriend alongside him, but-

"I need more space to manoeuvre," he muttered to himself. "I've got to find out what's wrong with the ARC; I may need allies – I don't dare call Jenny and I really don't think I want to talk to Duncan. Who's left?"

It was then he ran into another person, who was leaving the fast food joint that Connor was entering (all that thinking made him hungry). That person was slightly smaller than Connor and lighter, as he or she staggered back, dropping their take-out bag to the ground in the process... if Connor (who did become more athletic as time went by) hadn't caught it in time.

"Here you go, miss," he said politely, before he realized that his new acquaintance was anything but new.

"Hello, Connor," Caroline Steele said. "How – and where – is Abby?"

/

For several moments Connor just stared at Caroline. "You're looking well," he managed. "And, uh, what was the question, again?"

"Abby," Caroline said in a neutral tone. "Your significant other?"

"In what fucked-up dimension did I end up in?" Connor exploded, "aside from the fact that the entire Center is having a problem, Abby isn't my significant anything! I care for her a lot, but when I just suggested that we could get engaged, she had a panic attack! Abby and I... we're friends, but we tend to fight a lot and didn't you hear this from me before?"

"Yes, you have, just not as vehemently, on our dates," Caroline nodded, somewhat hesitantly, "remember?"

Connor froze. Even when he had met the other woman, unexpected memories began to circulate in his head of their dates: it had been fun to unwind after a hard day's work hunting raptors or giant prehistoric blood-sucking worms, pretend to be a regular guy and go out on a date with a good-looking girl, who actually listened when he talked to her about scientific stuff (admittedly, toned down to a lay person's understanding, but still)...

"Yes, yes I have," Connor confessed, "and sorry about that – you're probably out with your own significant other or whoever, and really don't need to hear about my problems-"

"Actually, no, I'm not out with anyone at the moment," Caroline shook her head, "and what problems? Medical ones?"

"No, though I almost wish," Connor confessed. "I came to my senses about half an hour ago, apparently, and found myself back at the Center only everyone and everything is frozen, dusty too, sort of in the manner of props on stage or in a shop's back rooms, you know?"

"Was there fog?" Caroline asked quietly even as the two of them walked through a parking lot.

"Fog?" Connor repeated, thoughtfully. "No, not really. Just that really, really oppressing and awful stillness and silence. Why have you asked about fog?"

"Well," Caroline said thoughtfully, "remember the last time we saw each other? At Mr. Hart's funeral?"

"Yes," Connor said, wincing. "Sorry for treating you so coldly, but Stephen was a good friend of ours, and you were associated with Leek...and why did Lester let you go? I thought that he was going to keep an eye on you by giving you a job at the ARC?"

"Ah yes, that was the idea," Caroline nodded in reply, "but here is how it went wrong."

/

_The weather was already gloomy for Mr. Hart's funeral, and now that Connor and the others were gone, fog was beginning to roll in, obscuring everything in its path._

"_Ms. Steele, come on," James Lester's voice sounded oddly muffled, "we don't have all day to have you settled in!"_

_Settled in... Caroline didn't want to be settled in, she wanted to be out. But the ARC was a division of the Home Office; she couldn't go against the government, could she?_

_And then, there was movement among the tomb stones, and the fog...not withdrew, but halted its advance, its' tentacles quivering, in an almost furious fashion. Another woman, around Ms. Lewis' age or slightly older, was walking through the clearing path, flanked by an army of identical-looking people, as if this was a scene in one of Connor's Star Wars movies._

("Hey, you remembered me talking about them."

"Yes, yes I suppose I did.")

"_Ah, a new character," the woman said dismissively to Caroline. "How cute."_

"_Now wait just a minute!" Caroline snapped. "What do you mean, I'm a character? I am my own person, thank you very much!"_

"_Really?" the woman seemed surprised and thoughtful. "Well, my hubris has caused quite a lot of suffering now, so..." Apparently having made up her mind, she turned and faced Caroline. "Well, then, Ms. Person, here's the rub. You want to remain your own person? Go through the path I walked that led here and don't look back. You want to remain a piece of the action? Go to Lester and don't look back either. It's up to you now."_

_Saying these words the woman turned around walked to Mr. Hart's grave. Caroline briefly hesitated and then fled down her path, away from Lester and didn't look back._

/

"And that was essentially the end of it," Caroline concluded her story. "All of you people have seemingly forgotten about me, there were no repercussions, no angry or intimidating visits, no anything! It hurt to be forgotten, of course, but then one day I received a short message in the mail – _"__Congratulations__on__breaking__the__fourth__wall__"_ – and that was weird. Any ideas?"

"I believe that's the term for the feature when a show's characters interact with the audience..." Connor determinedly shook his head. "No. No, I refuse to believe it – Helen must've messed with you somehow, and-" Connor froze. He and Caroline had reached Caroline's car, and two twin girls, three to four years of age, were looking back at them.

_TBC_


	2. The twins and Caroline

**Breaking the fourth wall: twins**

_Disclaimer: None of the characters are mine, but belong to their respective owners._

"I believe that's the term for the feature when a show's characters interact with the audience..." Connor determinedly shook his head. "No. No, I refuse to believe it – Helen must've messed with you somehow, and-" Connor froze. He and Caroline had reached Caroline's car, and two twin girls, three to four years of age, were looking back at them.

"Well," Caroline said slowly, looking actually rather frightened for the first time during this encounter. "The one on the left is Bernice, and the one on the right is-"

"Hi! I'm Rebecca but you can just call me Becca!" the twin on the right spoke with a precociousness that Connor remembered all too clearly from the time when _he_ was of that age. "Are you our daddy?"

"Becca!" both the other twin and Caroline exploded on her. "Are you listening to yourself-"

"Excuse me," Connor said as smoothly as he could as he thrust the fast food take-out into the car, "but this is for you two. Your mommy and I we need to talk about something for the moment."

"Are you going to fight?" Bernice asked with dark, but alert eyes.

"No," Connor said truthfully, "but we are going to argue, sorry."

The twins exchanged enigmatic looks. "Okay!" Rebecca Steele said brightly. "Mommy and auntie Salome argue all the time and that's not a problem. Good luck!"

"Brat," Caroline said with a small but fond smile, before catching Connor's eyes and sobered up quickly once more. "Let's go and argue, then."

/

Connor and Caroline walked a short distance away from the car (the twins were watching them even as they bit into the hamburgers and fries) and sat down.

"Well?" Caroline asked nonchalantly. "You want to say something?"

"You turned me into my father!" Connor exploded. "Well, almost, I suppose, since I didn't neglect them – I just abandoned them, apparently! How did that happen?"

Caroline was silent. "Connor, do you remember the time when I brought you home? Before you sent me a text message saying that we were breaking up?"

It was Connor's turn to fall silent and remember that day.

/

_Despite his initial reservations, dates with Caroline were quite fun. Sure, she did like jewellery quite a lot (but what girl doesn't, aside from Abby?) and her clothing was pricy, but still nowhere near Lester's or Jenny's range, and frankly, it just made her look nice – and as any red-blooded man, Connor was very appreciative of good-looking women._

("Connor, it sounds like you were considering me your arm candy!"

"Sorry, Caroline, but I wasn't cheating on you, and besides when it came to women, I was dumb, and am still dumb. Where was I?")

_The dates themselves weren't all that scary too – Connor had a somewhat limited range of ideas when it came to taking girls out – but so far the Natural History Museum, the planetarium, etc were quite successful. Movies – especially the time-tested classics such as the Star Wars series – too proved to be quite successful, but tonight..._

"_Connor, hi!" Caroline said cheerfully._

"_Hi," Connor said nonchalantly, "what's up?"_

"_Connor," Caroline said with a certain insecurity that didn't usually suit her, "you know how you usually take me places?"_

"_Yes?" Connor said warily, realizing that something new was in the wind. "I thought you liked them, too?"_

"_Yes," Caroline nodded, "but I want to take you out tonight – to my home."_

"_Won't your parents mind?" Connor's eyebrows raised up and he was extremely pleased that Abby didn't hear this (why was he thinking of Abby? She wasn't even his girlfriend!)_

"_Why, Connor, do you leave with your parents at this age?" Caroline asked, teasingly._

"_Of course not!" Connor protected quickly, "but that's not what I asked, either!"_

"_Ah, well don't worry," Caroline actually looked depressed. "They're dead."_

"_Say what now?" Connor stared._

"_Went as tourists to Turkey – food and alcohol poisoning," Caroline twitched. "I really don't want to talk about it, please."_

"_Well, if it makes you feel better – my father's an abusive bastard whom I hope never to see again for as long as I live," Connor suggested weakly. "Does it make it better?"_

"_Some," Caroline nodded. "Thanks for the attempt to cheer me up, Connor." She walked to the young man and kissed him for his first time ever._

/

"And that was just the beginning," Connor said with a small smile. "That was the best night of my life ever...and I have forgotten about it completely – even before we had to deal with the giant scorpions of all things! What's wrong with me? I mean, I am not that stupid – forgetting that night on top of suddenly developing amazing technology skills out of scratch – should have tipped me off..." He paused. "And speaking of tipped off, that was just one night! A very long and enthusiastic night, but still-"

"As my mother said once, 'once is all it takes', referring to me in her peculiar way, of course," Caroline grimaced. "And it was only after the incident with Leek's toxic petting zoo that I realized that my period was late."

"And by then you broke the fourth wall while I didn't," Connor sounded thoughtful. "It's a funny thing, you know? I remember riding off with Abby, Nick and Jenny to deal with some time anomaly related emergency, but the next thing I remember meeting Sarah Page in the Natural History Museum – everything else is a blank."

"Your point?"

"That I am not sure of, but what I am sure off," Connor said firmly, "that I owe you and your girls a lot. I remember you owning quite a bit of property dedicated to breeding dogs – can I help you out with common labour or something? That is to say, if you don't already have a stropping bloke or a husband to do that-"

"No," Caroline shook her head. "I didn't want a stropping bloke or a husband – I wanted you. But, I was too afraid to go back and to confront you there: Leek smirched me too deeply with his lies about you being an untrustworthy government agent for me to hope for anything good and with your blonde friend-"

"Don't," Connor shook his head, registering at the back of his mind that as far as the term 'friend' went, this wasn't a bad classification for Abby back then. "We'll figure it out as we go along – if you will have me after all the crap I pulled in Leek's captivity and so on behind the fourth wall."

"Deal!" Caroline grinned eagerly, and the pair shook hands.

High above them and far away to the west came the distant sound of thunder...

/

When the twins saw Connor return with Caroline to the car, they were very happy, to put it lightly. "So, you are our daddy?" Rebecca piped up again, causing her sister and her mother to turn red.

"Let's just say that I'm staying for as long as your mother wants me to, and that's that," Connor replies, matching her tone, "that said, is it healthy for you to eat so much junk food?"

"We have it only rarely, sir," the other twin – Bernice – says in a much quieter voice than her twin. "Sorry."

"That's okay," Connor quickly backpedals, "and don't call me sir. That's what my father demanded of me, and believe me, that was one man you don't ever want to meet. Ever!"

"Okay," Bernice said, clearly relieved that he is not going to press his point, and so's Caroline. "So are you coming with us?"

"Yes!" the others reply at once and both of the adults blush because of it.

Rebecca just giggles.

High above and far away to the west there's a faint peal of thunder.

/

Caroline's dog breeding compound is impressive, and her assistant Salome (whose folks were a bit too fond of Oscar Wilde, Caroline tells him) is also intimidating. "And who are you?" she asks Connor rather sourly.

"Daddy!" Rebecca speaks before anyone else can – she really is precocious. "Just as mommy told us all those times!"

"Really?" Salome levels her glare at Connor – if he hadn't been used to be glared at by women of all possible ages, he'd be really cowed. "And where have you been all this time?"

"Behind the fourth wall, it seems," Connor sighs. "And I honestly don't have any better explanation."

"Humph!" Salome snorted. "You and Caroline...you're a real matching pair of nutjobs, you know?"

"Hey!" Surprisingly, it was Bernice who spoke up, and not her twin. "Don't call them that, auntie Salome! That's rude!"

Judging from the looks of the others, this isn't typical for the more subdued twin. "Right," Salome speaks after a brief pause, "so you know anything about computers? You know, that whole Microsoft Office™ thing?"

"Yes," Connor gives her a look. "I believe that I have a good idea regarding how it works."

"Splendid, 'cause neither me nor the boss lady do – well, not really," Salome beams. "As far as I am concerned – you're hired!"

Caroline just rolls her eyes as Connor stares at her in mute wonder: is her assistant for real?

/

As a matter of fact, yes Salome is. She may be blonde, and she's built like a brick wall, with a very prominent figure (and Connor is definitely a heterosexual male, he can't quite ignore such facts of life though he does best to try) and she's loud, but both twins know that she's a good person, as can be seen on their baby pictures – unlike Connor, who is noticeably absent.

_I,__and__Abby,__and__the__rest__of__the__Center__constantly__sought__to__save__the__world,__but__somehow,__in__face__of__such__simple,__humane__pictures,__this__seems__hollow,_ Connor hollowly thinks, when someone tugs on his leg.

"So, what do you think?" Bernice says shyly, while her twin looks slyly on.

"I think," Connor thinks quickly, "that when you two were hairless, you were even harder to tell apart than now."

"No duh!" Rebecca laughs, and even Connor can notice clear notes of relief in her voice, "only mom and auntie Salome could distinguish us back then, and sometimes not even they – daddy, are you okay?"

"Mostly sorry that I wasn't around to help them out with you two," Connor exhaled, "but I'll try better in the future, I'm sure."

"Glad to hear that," Salome makes an appearance. "You like grilled chicken, fried rice and salad for dinner? Because that's what we're having tonight."

Connor just nods.

/

The dinner is relatively tense but good, and so's the food, Connor decides – he hadn't had a cooked meal since he moved away from Tom and Duncan and stopped cooking, period.

"You really cooked, once?" Caroline asks once Connor tells them that, genuinely surprised. "Seriously?"

"Not once, but relatively regular, I and Duncan both – Tom usually managed to get out of it," Connor nods. "What can I say? When there are three bachelor blokes under one roof and take-out can get either real pricey or real tedious very quickly, so something had to be done."

"Now I'm won over for good," Salome grins. "Knows computers and cooking? You're my type of a man, Temple!"

"That's... nice," Connor says weakly. "That's nice, right?" he pulls himself together and asks Caroline, though somewhat weakly, who just grins a little for the first time since the two of them had run into each other and nods.

Dinner goes somewhat smoother afterwards, though.

/

"So, that's your office?" Connor asks once the dinner is over, and Caroline promptly tells him to go with her to access his computer and paperwork-related skills. "Looks a bit Spartan, but it's your call."

"I prefer to call it professional," Caroline corrects him, "and anyways, can you carry out the following instructions?" She puts a typed-up list of commands related to Excel and PowerPoint to Connor.

Connor suppresses an urge to roll his eyes to prevent karma biting him in the butt at the least appropriate time because the instructions were quite, quite simple for someone of his level. And then he remembered how Philip's instructions were once quite simple and he managed to mess up, almost killing Philip and Rex at one go, and lowered his confidence level a bit and began to follow them rather explicitly.

Since the instructions _are_ simple for someone of Connor's knowledge, he manages to accomplish them rather quickly and presents the finished database to Caroline's inspection. "So, is it up to your standards?"

"Yes," Caroline said quickly and grinned. "Connor, it may be presumptuous of me to say that, but – welcome home?"

"Thanks, Caroline," and Connor hugged her. "It's good to be home – especially when you didn't know you had one."

Far away to the west thunder shook the sky. Far closer to home, the Anomaly Research Center, still standing behind its 'wall' stood impassively against the sky.

_TBC_


	3. New changes

**Breaking the fourth wall: new changes**

_Disclaimer: None of the characters are mine but belong to Impossible Pictures™._

_Note: This chapter contains spoilers for season 1._

It was curious, but back when he was stuck in the ARC-world (as Connor mentally called it now), Connor simply didn't care about the passage of time. It was more than bizarre – the Center was dealing with _time_ anomalies first and foremost, yet none of them had ever thought of trying to handle the situation from the chronological angle at all... not until he and Philip teamed up to do exactly that, anyways.

"Connor, honey?" Caroline spoke as Connor finally exited after his shave, "can I ask you for a favour?"

"Certainly," Connor said, just a trifle warily: the twins were great, but they could be a little messy and more than a bit hard to clean up, especially Rebecca. "What did the twins do this time?"

"Oh, it's not them – not exactly them," Caroline shook her head. "Ms. Ambrose is coming over today to try out her new book on the twins, and can you watch over them while she reads to them? Make no mistake, they are always wonderful when she's around, but could you, please, all the same?"

Connor used to be rather obtuse when dealing with women, sure enough. After all, his mother didn't count, Abby was confusing, Jenny was out of his league, and Jess and Emily were friends and thus didn't quite count either. However, after several days and weeks of living the family life even he was beginning to understand some of the intricacies of the feminine mind, and this time his new instincts told him that something was in the wind.

"Yes, I'll do it, but what am I missing?" he asked Caroline quietly. "Who's Ms. Ambrose, anyways?"

"Remember the woman I met at Mr. Hart's funeral?" Caroline replied, also quietly. "Well, that's her."

Connor sat down. Slowly. "Seriously? Because, Caroline, I've met her much more often than you have, and she... wasn't the type to make children's books," he said quietly. "Look, she and I – we did not get along at all, but if she isn't going to start anything, I won't either. Beyond this, on the spur of the moment, I can't promise you anything."

"Deal," Caroline nodded, "and I'll be nearby if things don't work out-"

"Caroline," Connor said slowly, "next time you want to do something like this... don't. I don't like it when someone messes with me so, okay?"

Caroline opened her mouth and looked at Connor, who looked unusually sternly back at her. Usually, this was how Bernice looked at her twin when Rebecca would mess up, only this was more intense.

"Well, I know how Rebecca feels when Bernice is pushed too far," Caroline exhaled. "I'm sorry, Connor. I guess I just used to be the head of the household that I still tend to make the plans by myself-"

"Well, firstly you're still the head of the household," Connor told her firmly, "though when we get married I like to have some say in it too. And secondly, well, you just had some bad luck this time."

"And that's the final time I try to manipulate people for fun," Caroline said seriously. "Now let's go down for breakfast."

/

Despite his assurances to Caroline (and vice versa) that he was mostly okay with meeting Helen (Ambrose? What kind of a last name was that?), Connor was not so convinced – after all this was _Helen__Cutter_, the embodied of almost everything evil that he had ever dealt with...

Only maybe she wasn't? Aside from the fact that she had helped Caroline out, even if largely by accident, Helen was still a person, and thus beatable – Danny had stopped her, apparently, and she hadn't wiped-out humanity...

Connor shook and concentrated on what was confusing him the most: her books. Somehow, he couldn't imagine Helen making picture books for children, especially such adorable children as the twins were (so he was biased – is it so surprising?), and quite good books too. This alone was worthy of a doubt, and, furthermore, Connor didn't think of himself as someone who lived in the past, for the past: if Helen had really changed and turned over a new leaf, he was ready to welcome her to it – he could only hope that she would reciprocate in kind.

And so he waited.

So did the twins, but they were far more excited, chattering animatedly and running around the house. (It took Connor no more than two or three days to realize that children, just like pets, while adorable were also messy and needed to be taken care of. However, after Rex, Sid and Nancy, various modern lizards, Dragon the dinosaur and the mammoth Connor was quite prepared to clean up after a rambunctious pair of girls, who as often as not were ready to help him clean it up, unlike, say, pets - even Rex.) Clearly, whoever Helen had been back in the ARC-verse, here she was someone else – great with children, for example.

Children... Connor frowned hard in thought. Cutter had been a great man but he never seemed to be very interested in children. Neither was Abby, of course, or anyone else. Matt and Emily, maybe, but Connor wasn't too sure about them: had they really come from other times, or were they drawn into the ARC-verse just as he, Cutter and Stephen had been?

...Needless to say, Connor hadn't developed any ideas as to what he was to do next other than to be polite, but he managed to get himself thoroughly confused all the same. Thus, when there was the knock on the door, he almost felt relieved that the wait was finally over...

And then he opened the door.

And Helen Cutter was standing there... looking shocked, and surprised, and more than a little worried for the first time Connor had seen her. The fact that she didn't look too much like the Helen Connor knew played a factor in this as well.

"Hello," he said firmly. "I'm Connor, and I was the – sadly – absent father of these two munchkins. You must be Helen. I want to thank you for your advice you gave Caroline back at the cemetery and was hoping that you could advise me on something or other later as well." He carefully thrust out his hand, hoping for the best. He wasn't disappointed.

"Hello, Connor," Helen firmly shook her hand. "I'm Helen Ambrose. I'm sort of a nominal grandmother to these munchkins you've mentioned, and I don't have any problem talking with you about various adult matters, okay?"

"Yay!" the twins replied before Connor could. "Daddy's not worried anymore!"

Helen looked rather wryly at Connor, who could only shrug, sheepishly.

/

...It was quite a while later. The short storybook had been read and met with a rousing success by the twins. Connor too was properly impressed: he now had a very good idea of what Helen was doing in her spare time when she wasn't messing with the ARC, and it sounded a lot more excitement than what was going on at the ARC since she was gone...

"Really? What had happened at the ARC when I was gone?" Helen asked when she was sure that the twins run off to share their new book with their mommy. "Moreover, how did you get here? Somehow I didn't picture you figuring out about the fourth wall, you know?"

"You didn't do it," Connor exhaled. "I was worried about that. And as for the ARC... why did you do it?"

"That is actually a very complicated and long story," Helen said, clearly contemplative. "Tell me, do you remember your... friends, Tom and Duncan, I believe?"

"Yes! When did you learn about them?" Connor said quietly – Tom's death had been the first one he'd seen and he never fully got over it.

"I never met either of them," Helen shook her head. "So you better listen, because that's when my story got weird..."

/

_Helen__stood__in__a__shady__corner__of__two__London__streets,__feeling__confused__about__what__she__did.__ "__Why__did__I__bolt__from__there?__" __she__muttered__to__herself.__ "__Lester__and__the__others__ – __they__weren__'__t__going__to__hurt__me__ – __they_need_me!__I,__after__all,__have__a__lot__of__experience__of__practical__encounters__with__dinosaurs__and__other__prehistoric__creatures!__I__can__be__a__part__of__a__team__ – __I__should__be__a__part__of__a__team-__"_

_Helen__stopped.__Throughout__the__greater__part__of__her__tenure__ – __in__fact,__throughout_all_of__her__tenure,__she__really__hated__working__with__others:__she__could__work__with__others,__but__it__was__so__pointless:__it__was__either__Helen__complying__with__the__wishes__of__others,__senior__alumni__or__not__working__with__anyone__at__all.__(And__that__included__her__husband__too.)__She__hated__that,__and__now__she__was__going__down__the__same__role__with__new__people?__What__was_wrong_with__her?_

"_Ah, there you are," a cultured, polite, masculine and totally unknown voice spoke suddenly, startling her. Before Helen's astonished eyes, a tall, powerfully built blond man with frosty cold eyes appeared out of thin air – one moment he wasn't there, the next moment he was._

"_Hello, and who are you?" Helen said warily, her skin tingling with... what? Alarm certainly, but there was something else in the air, something that wasn't there moments before. _

"_Ah, I am Mr. Frost," the man said kindly, but his eyes never changed. "Dr. Cutter, you have quite startled us."_

"_Us?" Helen looked around. "You got a twin brother?"_

"_A partner," Mr. Frost corrected absent-mindedly, "but that is not relevant right now. What's relevant is that you need to go back. It's your cue to begin your redemption for you abandoning your husband all these years."_

"_This Claudia Brown woman can cover it for me," Helen said flatly. _

"_And so she will – but don't worry, you'll get your own reward," Mr. Frost said calmly. "In fact, your little stunt with the birds might actually work with your advantage. Here, take this and go to the stadium. You'll be a hero and start on your redemption even quicker than before."_

"_Take what?" Helen growled, ignoring the whole redemption bit – until she figured out what this Mr. Frost was, she had no intention of aggravating him/it._

"_This," Mr. Frost gestured and suddenly there was a crude flask of medicine in Helen's hands. "This is-"_

"_An anti-worm medicine from the leaves of a late Eocene mangrove plant," Helen snapped and stared, as something stirred within her – memories. "I've been in the Eocene – twice. I've been in the Jurassic – twice. I've been in the Triassic. I've been in the Carboniferous – and almost died there," Helen muttered, as she felt the power within her grow stronger, warping her foot, but growing stronger. "I am Helen Cutter; I dislike my husband, and will not be anyone's flunky! Heal this bloke on your own, I'm gone!"_

_She firmly put down the crude flask and walked away from Mr. Frost. And as she did that, the power within her grew stronger..._

_/_

"And that was just the beginning," Helen continued. "I know that it sounds insane, but this Mr. Frost, he and his partner, he could make things in that world, and somehow I picked up on that trick too-"

"You could've saved Tom, but you didn't," Connor said softly. "Why?"

"'Cause I was a selfish bitch at that point, that's why," Helen exhaled. "When I was your age, I did what my parents and my husband – that's Nick, of course – told me to, and once I was free, it was exhilarating – I went crazy."

"And then Stephen died," Connor said hollowly.

"Yes, and I saw his face every time I went to sleep for a long while," Helen nodded sounding just as hollow.

"And you killed Nick-"

"Actually, he's around, just as you are," Helen shook her head. "Me shooting him actually brought him back here."

"What?" Connor exploded. "What- How-"

"That was actually my idea," Caroline said in a small voice entering the living room. "See-"

"No, wait, one thing at a time," Connor shook his head. "How does the ARC-world work? Moreover-"

"I have no idea," Helen confessed, "other than when _I_ made someone die they returned her – or at least Nick and Christine Johnson did. I'm not quite sure about Claudia or you, for that matter."

"What about Caroline?" Connor pressed.

"She... was different. She wasn't fully immersed in this world yet, as you were by this point, so I was honestly surprised when she made it out," Helen confessed. "That also what convinced me that I had to get out myself – all this power was getting to my head, again. After Stephen died," Helen's voice noticeably fell, "well, that was a reality check that I required..."

"You loved him," Connor said matter-of-factly.

"Yes. And he loved Nick."

"Yes," Connor nodded, thoughtfully. "He did. He so did. That's not the point. The point is, Helen, why should we be friends after all we went through together?" He frowned. "Wait, that doesn't sound right-"

"We don't have to," Helen said in a small voice, very unlike from what Connor used to hear from her. "People know each other without being on a friendly basis a lot of times. Besides, I'm here just to test-out my books, and on birthdays, and-"

"I believe you," Connor said quickly, "but that doesn't mean what I haven't said before doesn't stand. Let's try to be friendly, shall we?" he pulled out his hand.

"Deal," Helen shook it firmly, relief coming off of her in almost palpable waves. "And since I didn't get where I currently am without pushing my luck, do you care to come to greet Nick and Claudia when they return from their honeymoon?"

Connor just stared. "Yes?" was all he managed, weakly: life wasn't done surprising him yet, it seemed.

_TBC_


	4. Abby

**Breaking the fourth wall: Abby**

_Disclaimer: none of the characters are mine, but belong to Impossible Pictures™._

It was several days later, and Connor with his family were among the small (if not miniscule) crowd that were waiting for the arrival of Nick and Claudia Cutter. The crowd – so to speak - was composed of mainly himself, his family and Helen, though Christine Johnson was there as well.

"What's she doing here?" he muttered crossly to Helen, seeing how Caroline honestly didn't appear to know the other older woman at all.

"She's Claudia's boss at the Home Office," Helen explained helpfully, "and she's _here_ because, maybe, she's lonely. I wouldn't know for sure: we haven't had much contact since I got her out of the ARC-verse."

"I remember," Connor muttered crossly, "how exactly did you prevent the future predator from eating her?"

"It was a hologram of one," Helen explained helpfully, "plus a rope on a winch to do the drag force – what can I say, when I have time to prepare, I was _good_ with that sort of thing."

"My nose is itching – this means you're talking about me," Christine said calmly, approaching them from her car for the first time. "And who're you?" she enquired of Connor. "You look familiar, but I cannot quite place you."

"I'm Connor. One of Lester's people from the Center," Connor muttered, suspecting that he was going to experience yet another surreal conversation. "I – among others – tried to save you from Helen when she took you hostage, remember?"

"Ah, yes, I remember," Christine glared at Helen who just looked back at her. "You have failed, of course, but it's the thought that counts."

"Really?" Connor replied, startled: he didn't expect even something like that from Christine. "So, uh, if you were wondering, I ended up here somehow of my own volition, without the help of Helen or anyone else."

"So had Claudia, and Helen too," Christine muttered, half-cross and half-sad. "Let me guess: you don't have an ambitious bone in your body?"

"I'm quite happy working in the family business of breeding dogs," Connor nodded. "It's quite fun, if not very ambitious."

"Of course it is, a household dream, no doubt," Christine shook her head, looking at Connor's girls. "And the little darlings colouring your hair with grease paint too, I wager."

"It was just once," Helen said quietly, "and you washed the paint out very quickly too."

"And there were the feathers. I thought that you looked really dashing with feathers in your hair – just like the queen in _Snow__White_," Rebecca piped up. (Bernice looked away, leaving everyone without a doubt as to which Temple-Steele twin was primarily responsible for that story.)

"Thank you, young girl," Christine said dryly, "your sentiment is appreciated."

"Uh, auntie Helen-"

"Auntie Christine likes what you thought of her," Helen said dryly. "Christine, you're confusing the girl."

"You aren't confusing me, Ms. Johnson," Bernice piped up suddenly. "And thanks for not being angry with us!"

"You're welcome," Christine muttered, clearly taken aback by this development and began to fiddle with her belt. "So, when are Claudia and her man are arriving?"

It was evident to Connor that Christine Johnson was very nervous to be here, not as much nervous as Helen was when she confronted him at home before, but nervous enough. And it was a familiar nervousness too – Connor had experienced it himself often enough at the university, when he thought that his actions made him stand out (and they usually did).

Hmm. Clearly, Christine Johnson wasn't fully certain that her being here was a good idea, and yet here she was, looking nervous and upset, acting like an outsider in an otherwise tightly fit group (theoretically speaking). When Connor was in her shoes, this was because he didn't have anywhere else to go to. Oh dear...

"Uh, Christine?" he said, sounding rather uncertain: back in the ARC-verse, the ARC and Christine Johnson had not gotten along at all. "I'm certain that Claudia will be happy to see you again."

"I hope so," Christine muttered, clearly thinking about it herself. "If it wasn't for her, I'd still be stuck there losing whatever I have earned beforehand and gaining nothing."

"Excuse me?" Connor asked, politely.

"Hmm?" Christine caught Connor staring at her (so did Caroline and the twins, but they were doing it slightly more discreetly, or at least Caroline and Bernice were). "Sorry, I'm just rumbling to myself – were you saying something?"

"Just how, uh, you've met my girls?" Connor decided not to capitalize that it sounded to him that Caroline was as lonely as a sphinx.

"Oh, you know," Christine said evasively and looked askance at Helen. "It just happened one day..."

"She knew that I was into story-writing business now," Helen took pity on the other woman, "and decided to see how this was working out – just curious, I suppose. I was entertaining the twins and Caroline at that time, they invited Christine in, and it just happened."

"A temporary insanity, I'm sure," Christine muttered, supposedly to herself. "I mean-"

"It wasn't that bad: you played cards, listened to auntie Helen's story and Rebecca played with your hair," Bernice spoke-up shyly.

"Yes, I guess," Christine instinctively touched her hair, which, Connor noticed, was shorter from before – perhaps Rebecca's hair styling still had some kinks to iron out after all. Still, it was this politeness of Bernice (and something else) that seemed to affect Christine Johnson more than anything that was mentioned before.

But then, before the situation could get too out of hand, there was a sound of footsteps, and two people emerged from the airport: Nick and Claudia Cutter... and the latter was a blonde version of Jenny.

/

At first glance, before they noticed Connor (who was rather overwhelmed by women of all ages and sizes who were also present there, save for Salome, who stayed home to keep an eye on the business) Nick was more exasperated than anything else – clearly he still had some bad blood between himself and Helen, at the very least.

And then he saw Connor, and stared. "Connor," he gasped and glared at Helen: "How-"

"Ah, that was all me, actually," Connor said, with slightly embarrassed look. "And I even don't know how I did it exactly, either. So, how was the honeymoon? And, Claudia, if you're really Claudia why I also remember you being Jenny?"

"Yup, that's the real Connor," Claudia nodded to Nick as the latter was just stunned into silence by Connor's monologue. "No clone or anything else could be so convincing – sorry, Helen."

"That's okay, I deserve it. I mean, I almost proclaimed myself the chronological clone queen at one point," Helen nodded calmly, with twinkles in her eyes indicating that she didn't mind Claudia's slip at all.

"Chronological clone queen? Talk about ego," Christine said before she could help herself, apparently.

"Exactly," Helen nodded in the same vein as when she was dealing with Claudia. "Couldn't have said it better myself."

There was a pause as everyone looked at Christine, who clearly was uncomfortable with all this attention. "So, uh, Claudia – I mean Mrs. Cutter," the female civil servant said quickly, "what is the big news that caused you to cut your honeymoon short?"

"Oh," Claudia said, grinning widely, "I'm pregnant!"

"Congratulations," was the immediate chorus, with even the twins joining. Rebecca being herself, however, couldn't help but add after this:

"Mommy, is that from where me and Bernice and came?"

"Yes," Caroline admitted, cheeks turning purplish-brown. "Sorry about this, Mrs. Cutter – now that their father's home, Rebecca is really precocious!"

There was a pause, as Nick and Claudia looked at Connor and the twins in turn: the family similarities, especially between Connor and Rebecca, were obvious.

"Connor, how, when-" Nick began, but Connor was ready for this – sort of.

"Well, _when_ happened on the night before we went to the future with the Mer – remember them? And _how_, uh-"

"We know how," Nick shook his head. "In fact, that _how_ was a prominent part of our honeymoon, but," the older man looked Connor right in the eyes, "what about Abby?"

"I haven't forgotten about Abby, Nick," Connor shook his head, but not backing down. "And once I figure all angles out, I'll get her out. But my family's my family – I will not be my father, no matter what."

"Deal," Nick with full seriousness, as he shook Connor's hand. "If you'll need my help with it, you've got it."

The tense silence was broken once more by Rebecca. "Wow, auntie Helen, I guess you were right when you told auntie Claudia that uncle Nick's the devil!"

"And your mother told you that it's bad to eavesdrop behind closed doors," Helen replied without even blushing, "remember?"

Rebecca just blushed, very much like Caroline did earlier and looked away shyly.

"Anyways, let's get you home," Caroline said quickly, "we've got your homecoming party ready and all."

"Any more surprises like Connor here?" Nick said, glad for the change of topic.

"No, just the edible kind," Helen shook her head, "in case, Nick, your mother does make a surprise appearance."

"Oh, I remember that – I always remembered that," Connor said suddenly. "That's how Nick and Stephen and I met for the first time: due to an uncomfortable quirk of fate she surprised all of us together, and we ended up taking her to a restaurant, which resulted in the three of us getting drunk for the rest of that spring break. That woman is a mammoth pain-"

"More like a woolly rhinoceros, only without the wool and the horns, in my opinion," Helen interjected helpfully.

"You know," Claudia said in a tone that appeared to define the concept of 'fighting words', "the more I hear about my new mother-in-law, the more I want to meet her and-"

"Yes, of course you do," Christine interrupted her, "but, anyways, good luck with your new home-"

"Actually, you're invited too – we've got some souvenirs for you as well," Claudia smiled brightly. "That is, if you care about them-"

"Yes, I suppose I can come along," the older civil worker replied with palpable relief. "And thanks for not forgetting me, too."

"Ms. Johnson, I know that our relationship is always professional, but I suspect that we were always friends somehow along the line," Claudia said graciously. "Come along, then, everybody."

And everybody went.

/

_Abby awoke with a gasp. The original dreams, when Connor was basically married to Caroline Steele (and the twins were undoubtedly theirs) were disturbing and strange enough, but this time it was an entirely different league. Nick arrived and married to Jenny Lewis who was actually Claudia Brown? The three of them (plus Connor's new family) getting along with Helen and Christine Johnson? What sort of a bizarre world was it?_

_The one that didn't have Abby Maitland in it, it appeared. True, Connor told Nick that he hadn't forgotten about her and all, but really, this was just Abby's own subconsciousness speaking up – wasn't it? Because it if wasn't, well..._

_...It had been almost several months since Connor vanished into thin air about as soon as they returned to the ARC after dealing with the post-Prospero™ time anomaly related emergency. One moment he was walking next to Abby, calling out to Jess as she worked at her station, the next he was gone._

_Well, it's not exactly that he vanished without a trace – people saw him walking through the Center, walking out of the front doors for some reason or another, but beyond that he disappeared._

_Checking out the flat where Abby and Connor lived (i.e. with Jess) provided no clues – Connor just wasn't there either, he wasn't anywhere; in fact, for Jess's monitoring various street cameras provided no succour: Connor Temple just simply wasn't found. _

_As__a__last__ditch__effort,__Abby__(without__telling__Jess__or__anyone__else)__went__to__visit__Connor__'__s__friend__Duncan,__but__he__wasn__'__t__much__help__at__all:__too__busy__talking__about__some__metaphysical__fourth__wall__and__what-not,__and__he__hadn__'__t__seen__Connor__either,__ever__since__the__incident__with__the_Kaprosuchus_._

_Of course, Abby wasn't the only one worried about Connor – the rest of the ARC's field team were worried as well. Still, Abby couldn't help but feel that their approach was somehow different, pursuing Ethan Dombrowski (who finally came back, after losing Danny in the mists of time), hoping that he was behind Connor's disappearance for some reason... Abby didn't buy it. A rift had opened between her and her friends, and it was the fault of the dreams: how could she believe that Ethan had captured Connor, when her dreams showed Connor to be so happy? _

_...Abby didn't know the answer to that question, but secretly (even if she was growing unstable and antisocial) she was pleased that Connor hadn't forgotten her, even in his subconscious. She could only hope that his situation with Caroline would be resolved before Abby herself lost the last of her own coherence..._

TBC


	5. Duncan and Abby and Sarah Page

**Breaking the fourth wall: Duncan and Abby and Sarah Page**

_Disclaimer: see previous chapters._

"_Duncan, hello."_

_Very slowly young man, who was Duncan, turned around and stared at the rather fashionably-dressed blonde of approximately his age, who was looking back at him, looking very, very nervous._

"_I remember you, you were Connor's blonde friend," he said thoughtfully. "You look different, though – have you done something to your hair?"_

"_Yes!" Abby nodded. "And to my face, and to my wardrobe... anyways, how you're doing?"_

"_I'm fine, I'm going home," Duncan said curtly. _

"_I know; I'm coming with you."_

"_I can't believe that I'm saying this, but I'm not interested," Duncan exhaled. "Believe me, I'm straight and you're hot and in many other possible times I would've been much more welcoming, but-"_

"_I just want to talk you!" Abby snapped. "Seriously, do I look that slutty?"_

"_No!" Duncan quickly said, "you do not, and it's really my problem – I need to pull out the plug on an experiment of mine, you know?"_

"_I'll be brief, then," Abby said quietly. "Can you help me find Connor?"_

"_I'm not sure how to reply to this," Duncan replied, equally quietly. "Maybe I can – theoretically. But in reality, you may not be happy in meeting him, he's changed."_

"_If by changed you mean he now has a wife and children, then I know, just don't ask how," Abby shook her head. "It doesn't matter. I just need to change my life in a new direction and this just might be the thing."_

"_Hmm," Duncan thoughtfully looked around. "Ah, why the Hell not. It's time to take a risk after all. Let's get inside, quickly."_

_And so in they went._

/

_The insides of Duncan's home were still very technological, even more so than before._

"_Yup, because I took my research to a new direction," Duncan said calmly, even as he tied Abby's wrist to his own. "Cryptozoology proved to be a dead end, so I went onto something else – interdimensional physics, just as on 'Doctor Who'."_

"_Fascinating," Abby nodded calmly, internally wondering if she was making a mistake – but even if she did, her life at the ARC without Connor was, probably, another mistake, so perhaps here it will be the case of one wedge driving out another. "'Doctor Who', you say? Smashing!"_

"_Mock me all you will," Duncan replied, after he quickly flipped several switches, moved forwards or backwards several levers and pressed a sequence of buttons, "but this is your last chance. Are you in or out?"_

"_In," Abby said firmly. "Impress me!"_

_Instead of replying, Duncan pressed one last button. There was a hum, and a flash of bluish light, and the pair vanished, followed by the almost immediate breakdown of the entire set of machinery: when a brief time later Matt and Becker and a small force of ARC security guards came to the apartment (on a tip from Jess) there was no trace of either Duncan or Abby there at all - another dead end._

/

"That was fun!" Christine Johnson told Connor, as the Temples and their family friends gathered at Connor and Caroline's place to celebrate Caroline win an award at the fair at the dog training competition. "More than I expected it to be, too!"

"Glad that you enjoyed it, Ms. Johnson," Claudia agreed, "though, Helen, a sketching booth? I thought that you'd be in a cooking booth instead."

"Nowadays I prefer to cook only when I want to and if I have to, not otherwise," Helen shrugged in reply. "Besides, I'm good at drawing – even Nick and Connor agreed."

"Connor had just come fourth place at a hot dog eating contest, he would've agreed with anything and to anything," Nick said dryly, "though he did a valiant attempt for the third place all the same."

"Eh, I never ever reached further than third place," Connor replied apologetically, largely for the twins than for the grown-ups, "so I didn't get my hopes up in the first place. Besides, it was nice to participate in a hot dog eating contest after a long hiatus; Duncan, though, was always good at them-"

There was a knock at the door. "Oh dear," Helen muttered as Caroline went to open the door. "I have a premonition about this-"

"Connor!" Caroline sounded very... controlled when she opened the door. "Your... friends are here. What a surprise!"

"I say," Connor agreed as he joined Caroline at the front door. "Abby! Duncan! What a surprise! What are you doing here, together?"

"Connor, this is my fault – or rather, my doing," Duncan said, sounding a trifle nervously. "I can explain everything?"

"Then come in and have dinner on top of it," Caroline suggested graciously, even as she and Abby carefully measured each other up. "Do you like fresh spaghetti with small hot dogs?"

"Mrs. Temple," Duncan said almost reverently, "I'm sure that when you'll take a good look at me, you'll realize that when it comes to food, I'm almost always in favour of it."

"And you - Abby?" Caroline said, guardedly.

"I promise to be on my best behaviour," Abby said, also guardedly. "And... congratulations on getting your man. I promise to be a good loser."

"Thank you," Caroline nodded. "It means a lot to me and a lot more to Connor."

/

Despite these mutual assurances of cordiality, when Abby and Duncan entered the Temple residence proper, there was a pause of incredulous silence, broken, fortunately, by Connor.

"So, Duncan, you say that you can explain everything?" he said quickly, before the silence could become really uncomfortable and Duncan would bolt somewhere else.

"Right, yes," Duncan fiddled around. "Tell me, do you know one Sarah Page?"

"Yes, she's an Egyptologist from the British museum," Christine Johnson replied, startling everybody. "She came from the... other side I suppose a couple of years ago. Didn't try to find out anyone here or anyone else, just went back to work. I myself am able to keep tabs on her because I was looking out for anyone like her. Go on, young man."

"We'll need to talk about your communication skills some other time," Connor muttered crossly, "Ms. Johnson, and just for the record? Caroline and Helen had met for their second time only by accident-"

"Your point?" Christine said, sounding genuinely confused for once.

"Never mind," Connor shook his head. "Duncan, sorry about this, go on."

"Well, this was my doing, as, Connor, were you," Duncan exhaled. "And myself with Abby too, obviously."

"...Um, Duncan, not that I'm ungrateful," Connor finally said, "but _why_ did you do it, precisely?"

"And, moreover, you forgot him," Helen said, pulling out Rex of Abby's backpack. "Or has he sneaked in when you weren't looking, hmm?"

"Rex!" Abby blinked. "What, how?"

Rex chirped sounding genuinely apologetic for once.

"You're not like Mr. Frost, his partner and underlings, are you?" Duncan said warily.

Rex chirped again, this time shaking and doing his best to imply that no, he wasn't anything like them.

"Here," Helen released the smarter-than-average coelurosauravus and the flying reptile instantly flew to Abby before curling in her lap, looking about as nervous as the small blonde herself felt.

"We've really bonded once you've been gone and your replacement showed up," Abby said, slightly guiltily to Connor. "Anyways, Duncan, you were behind this?"

"Yes!" Duncan said, before calming back down. "And anyways, I did it because it was the right thing. I've seen the doings of the so-called Mr. Frost and others, and, well, while I couldn't confront them directly I couldn't allow you remain their puppet either."

"Yes, well, what about Lester and others?" Connor glared. "I mean someone like Jess or Becker-"

"I don't know about them," Connor confessed. "I mean, Mr. Frost and others were able to create Prospero™ out of nothing, and Jess appeared to be a package deal with them – I suppose I might have been responsible for her once I pulled Sarah Page out when she was looking for you and Abby-"

"Young man," Helen said in a voice that just commanded attention, "before we go any further, you have to _promise_ not to do what you have done anymore – that way lies madness, harm to others and to yourself: believe me, I walked that road to its very end, basically."

"I believe you," Duncan gulped, since Helen looked deadly serious – emphasis on deadly. "And furthermore, I have pulled out the plug on that project myself – I am not coming back there ever! ...Besides, I still have exams to take care of, you know?"

"What is your major, Duncan?" Connor asked, curiously.

"Engineering," Duncan shrugged. He paused, and with a careful glance at Helen (who had relaxed and once more looked no more formidable than any other writer and illustrator of children's books) nodded and paused. "So, now what?"

"Now we have to figure out where the two of you will live," Connor said thoughtfully.

"Well, she can come with me, though I'm not quite sure what I'll tell mother," Duncan offered.

There was a pause. "Uh, let's keep it as a plan B, shall we?" Abby twitched. "I'm not quite ready to meet your mother either."

"You can stay at my place," Christine spoke up suddenly. "What? If Lester was able to put up with a temporary lodger, so can I." She paused and added, with somewhat less certainty: "Your lizard is housetrained, right?"

"Yes, yes it is," Abby nodded quickly. "I think we can work something out, especially if I get a job at the zoo once again."

"It's a deal, then."

/

_About a day later..._

Sarah Page listlessly looked over her latest paperwork. Her life sucked. Well, it sucked because it was boring, not because it was dangerous, but it still sucked.

It was been several years now since she had awakened from her death at the claws of a future predator, but it still sucked. She missed Becker, she missed the others, and she even missed Lester.

There was a knock on the door. "Come on in," Sarah said absent-mindedly, expecting it to be one of her colleagues. Instead, it was Christine Johnson.

"Hello," she said primly, "I came to apologize for my behaviour. I should have contacted you sooner, as soon as I have figured out that you were really you and really here."

Sarah blinked.

"Say what? You're alive? But a future predator has killed you!"

"So has you, and in both cases we have returned from the fourth wall," Christine replied. "And again-"

"No, wait," Sarah shook her head. "Who else is here?"

"Professor Cutter and his ex-wife, Connor Temple, Abby Maitland and me. And Claudia too, I suppose, since she'd been there for a while, albeit as someone called Jenny Lewis."

"What? They've been here before and didn't call me?" Sarah exploded.

"No, they didn't know that you were here – I only told them of you recently, last night or so," Christine confessed. "I guess I made a mistake."

"You think?" Sarah exploded, "you think?"

And she fainted.

/

When Sarah returned to her senses, she was in the museum's medical wing and the local nurse was, well, nursing her back.

"Sorry about this, Dr. Page," she said, apologetically. "It's just that you had a severe fainting spell, and, uh, advise you to take the rest of the day off-"

"I'll take it! I mean, uh, I agree," Sarah said quickly. "Christine, I mean Ms. Johnson, can you give me a lift?"

"Yes, I suppose I must," Christine said from her seat. "Let's go."

/

"I got to admit – I wished for just a touch more excitement in our life," Nick was telling Claudia a while later, "and it seems that the wish-granting fairy went into an overload – but in a good way," he added quickly.

"You're just happy that your friends are back, even if they have broken up with each other," Claudia replied dryly, as the two of them unpacked from the trip to the midwife. "Then again, from what I remember as Jenny, they never quite meshed together fully, but then again – neither did we."

"I don't know, we got along pretty well," Nick shot back to his wife, when there was a knock on the door.

"Yes? Who is it?" Claudia asked even as she opened the door and was greeted by the wary Christine and flustered Sarah.

"Jenny! It is you!" Sarah exclaimed and burst into tears, even as Christine winced.

"Well, I guess the wish-granting fairy isn't done yet," Nick just exclaimed.

_TBC_


	6. Conclusion

**Breaking the fourth wall: conclusion**

_Disclaimer: see previous chapters._

Despite the rather inauspicious (to put it lightly) beginning, Sarah Page was quickly reintegrated into the group, even though she was nervous, a lot, and somewhat reluctant, surprisingly. Still, Claudia hadn't lost any of her PR skills while being away, and the Temple twins could win over anyone.

"You know, this is still weird," Sarah commented once to Helen, as they attended the extended Temple-Cutter family picnic. "This, I mean this, I mean," she paused, got her thoughts together and added. "I had not adapted so well to my regular life as the others have."

"Nonsense! I was a doctor of anthropology, and then a housewife, and now I'm a children's author," Helen shrugged. "You, on the other hand, have remained a doctor of archaeology-"

"Egyptology, actually-"

"-Egyptology, despite a long period of partial absence, I suppose. Just like Christine Johnson, you're probably a better survivor than I am, Dr. Page."

"Please, call me Sarah. And being compared to Christine Johnson is not exactly a compliment, as you should know," the Egyptologist shook her head. "Still, I wonder if it is possible that our friends might someday get out of that mess, ran by Mr. Frost and his partner?"

"You might want to talk to Connor and Duncan about that, then," Helen said nonchalantly, glancing at the older Temples as they listened bemusedly to Duncan explaining to them and Abby as to how he had moved out of his mother's once again. "They're the ones with the innovations nowadays, not I."

"Perhaps," Sarah said quietly, "but they're also content with what they got, and I can't blame them." She looked askance at Helen. "How did _you_ get over the demise of Stephen Hart?"

"Eventually? I died – then it got better for good. Before – discussions with Caroline and even Claudia helped. Just don't mention Stephen to Nick – Stephen had loved him, you know?" Helen said helpfully.

"I thought so about the two of them," Sarah agreed, "even with what I knew. I'll probably hold out on the dying part, though."

"Yes, I thought you might."

/

_To__say__that__Becker__was__a__man__on__a__mission__was__to...__mislead__actually.__Becker_was_a__man__(as__Jess__could__attest)__and__he_was_on__a__mission...__just__not__on__the__official__mission,__or__rather__not__in__a__canonical__way._

_Oh, undoubtedly the disappearance of Abby just when she was finally beginning to get over Connor (supposedly) was the goal of Becker, but... there were some facts that just didn't fit into the mould that Lester and Anderson and others were adhering to._

_First of all, there was Abby's behaviour. Certainly, Connor's replacement (privately Becker didn't acknowledge the smarmy git as anything else) seemed to have a beneficial effect on her, as everyone else assumed, but Becker (who was more observant than everyone else – even Abby and Connor – had given him credit for) had seen her eyes few times when she thought that nobody was looking, and they were not the eyes of a happy person – on the contrary, they were quite miserable... which put her disappearance into a whole different direction than the one that supposedly pointed to Ethan Dombrowski._

_Abby's last financial accounts indicated the same thing, actually. Jess claimed (and probably said the truth) that on that day Abby said that she was going shopping, only... _

_Becker was no computer whizz as Connor or Jess were (supposedly), but the ARC kept track of its employees' financial accounts, and once Becker learned the basics (i.e. accessing his own), it was easy to access Abby's too – all he had to do was to change the number of the accessed account (the ARC was still quite lax and basic with its computer programming despite the presence of Jess and formerly Connor on the staff). And what Becker found in the account confirmed his suspicion: unlike previously, Abby had not spent anything on her outing; she just left the ARC and vanished._

_And so had Rex, though to Becker's surprise, no one – except for him – had noticed the coelurosauravus' disappearance, except for, perhaps, the two diictodon, and they weren't talking. _

_Rex's disappearance, alongside Abby's, actually meant that Abby must've planned this disappearance, and left, taking Rex with her. Considering, that the last time Abby decided to vamoose she wanted to take the entire menagerie of the ARC, this was actually a lot of downsizing for her. It also meant that her disappearance was voluntary, which left Becker and the rest of the ARC... where?_

_Becker wasn't sure, but then again, he wasn't sure about many things, lately._

/

"This is getting ridiculous, Mr. Frost!"

Mr. Frost and his partner, Mr. Fire were currently sitting in their own space, looking with displeasure at the proceedings of the ARC.

"When James Lester promised results, I assumed that he meant _positive_ results, not negative," Mr. Fire continued, his eyes flashing like volcanic embers.

"What are you talking about, Mr. Fire?" Mr. Frost replied, placidly. "Helen Cutter was able to escape the first time without signing on to anything of his, unfortunately."

"Ah, that's the rub. The final time they had encountered each other _peacefully_ was after I had James Lester promise me some results in solving her problem – the problem of chaos."

"Please go on, Mr. Fire. I wasn't aware that you have extracted any sort of a promise from James Lester."

"Well, Mr. Frost, I have. Helen Cutter had largely stopped becoming a problem after the Oliver Leek/Stephen Hart debacle, and her removal of Nick Cutter was actually a good thing, for it led the way for the more appropriate Danny Quinn, or so I thought."

"Hmm, yes. If it wasn't for the Jenny job finally giving way on Claudia Brown we would've had even more results from Danny Quinn. Instead, well, he became somewhat redundant-"

"Because Helen Cutter learned the truth – she was finally becoming at home in our production, was actually becoming useful, and all that remained for her to do was to reap the benefits. Instead, she died, and without her all of our future plans had to be scraped and recycled, and they just weren't the same."

"Ah, I see the problem. It is the same problem that _I_ have encountered when I have talked to Helen Cutter for the first time: back then, I misjudged her – I thought that her reluctance was a mere problem of nerves, while in reality it was just her obstinate nature and the intent of doing our undertaking harm that drove her into her position in the first place. I fear, when you had James Lester point it out after the whole Christine Johnson debacle you fell into the same trap as I have done."

"Perhaps, but dying? That is the pinnacle of pointlessness, is it not?"

"Perhaps, but she is no longer the problem here, is she?"

"In a matter of speaking, she is. By introducing Ethan Dombrowski I hoped to replace her as a sort of chaos in our program, but the man had failed, broke down and had to be removed. Even now, when I have re-introduced him to plug the hole that resulted in Connor Temple's unplanned disappearance, he is falling short. I do not dare to re-introduce Danny Quinn for the third time, for that just might destroy the remainder of use that we had from Ethan Dombrowski."

"Is there a point, Mr. Fire? You're digressing."

"Ah yes, I do. I propose that we pull the plug on the current Primeval™ project completely, and focus fully on the North American one. It will be far shorter that we have planned it to be at the moment, but much more vibrant, which might make all the difference."

"I'm not sure, Mr. Fire. It was tried with Being Human™ project and it appeared to have failed. There is something about the British that makes them being exotic to the overseas audiences... but I see your merit. Maybe we shall pull the plug on the current, British version of Primeval™ and concentrate solely on the upcoming North American one."

"Yes, Mr. Frost, let's!"

/

"_Becker, hello."_

"_Hello, Emily," Becker said, with surprise. Lately he's been dealing primarily with Jess. "What's up?"_

"_Matt summons us to a conference with Lester," Emily replied, "and he's sounding really worried."_

"_Probably because Abby's replacement hasn't arrived yet," Becker said coldly. "Once she or he does, then Abby will be forgotten as quickly as Connor or Danny was."_

"_Becker! You're being crude!"_

"_Perhaps, but since Abby, Connor and Danny have went to stop Helen the employment turnover rate at the ARC has sped up immensely, and I don't like it," Becker shook his head as he stood up. "That is irrelevant, however, because I – I mean we - need to go and attend a meeting with Lester, where Lester, and Anderson, and that arrogant sod will be doing most of the talking and Jess will be doing her best to entice me to join in."_

"_If you feel thusly, then maybe I shouldn't let you in on a little secret," Emily said, and something in her manner made Becker check his advance. "See this?"_

"_It's a time anomaly manifestation device," Emily said with a smile, "preset to a time and place where someone might help us with our conundrum. Initially, I wanted to come along, but if you're game-"_

"_Why not Anderson?"_

"_Too protective," Emily firmly said. "Are you game?"_

"_Yes!"_

_And the two of them vanished in a flash of a time anomaly..._

/

"Mr. Fire, the plug on the time anomaly is pulled."

"I had my reservations about it, but very well."

/

"You know, it's the funniest feeling," Abby Maitland told Rex when the flying reptile landed on her shoulder for some snack, "but I just had a feeling like someone had walked over my grave or something. Weird."

"I don't know what you're talking about, the weather has actually cleared up," Saran Page shook her head as she joined the odd pair at the table. "No, I know that this being London it's all foggy and stuff, but for the last few weeks this was ridiculously rainy, but now the weather is becoming quite sunny and gorgeous, just as it is in Egypt..."

"You miss Egypt, don't you?" Abby said gently.

"Yes!" Sarah replied excitedly, "and speaking of Egypt, Christine Johnson agreed readily enough to help sponsor my latest archaeological – or Egyptological, if you want to be technical about it – to Egypt. You want to come along as the team's zoologist or herpetologist? It will be interesting."

Abby stared. "It will be interesting, no doubt. But why me?"

"As far as I am concerned, the obvious is enough for me. But also, think of your own career. Even Mr. Duncan, for all of his own personality flaws is pushing his career further along. Why not you too?"

"Why not me too indeed?" Abby said thoughtfully. "Dr. Page, I mean Sarah, I'll think about your offer!"

/

"Well, there you have it," Connor told Nick as Sarah and Abby shook hands with Christine hovering nearby, "Sarah is making peace with and making a contribution – a mutual contribution, I may add. Something's off?"

"Just thinking about my own paleontological trips, especially to Kem-Kem beds," Nick admitted, guiltily. "I confess that back then I didn't quite see their point of attraction, but now-"

"Now you've got a child or two of your own in the making," Connor said with a grin, "and that is going to be an adventure in its own style. Pity that I missed on some of it," he added, "but maybe in the future I'll get another chance..."

"Mmm," Nick nodded, thinking his own thoughts, when their wives came to them.

"What's with the gloomy look?" Claudia asked, gently.

"Just thinking. About past and present and future," Nick replied absent-mindedly, "and similar things."

"Told you," Caroline turned to the older woman. "Want to do something about it?"

"Yes!" Claudia nodded resolutely. "Nick, Connor, it's shaping up to be a lovely day outside – want to go somewhere private and make-out?"

Nick and Connor exchanged startled looks and very firmly agreed.

/

"And that is that," Helen calmly told Rex even as the flying reptile flew over to her (Abby was sharing news about her potential trip with Duncan). "All things have worked out. Nick has his family, his little friend has grown up at last, miss Maitland is going to have a proper career and relationship too, I finally have people who care about me, and so do you, Ms. Johnson, so stop sneaking."

"I don't know how you do it, but you still do it," Christine nodded as she sat next to the other woman. "Guess I practice makes perfect."

"I'll drink to that!"

And the two women shared a long, friendly drink under the grinning sky.

End


End file.
